In other words, Carlo Merlo had already given up on winning by reducing casualties. He was now determined to engage in a head-on confrontation, to see who would break first under the weight of casualties.
If his orders were carried out precisely, then the elites of both sides would likely suffer irreparable losses in this battle. What a pity, some people prioritized preserving their strength.
Upon learning that Carlo was going to charge Theodoro head-on, the two consuls accompanying the army quickly understood what they needed to do: flee.
What a joke! In such a head-on clash, even if the Genoa army won, they would certainly suffer heavy losses. The main army could be replenished from the homeland, but if these two districts lost their troops, it would probably take until after their terms ended to fully recover them.
Therefore, to preserve their strength, they immediately detained several supervisors and officers who were unwilling to cooperate, took their own troops, totaling over 1,500 men, and deserted the main army, rushing towards the sea. Many of these deserting soldiers even shouted, "Our army is defeated, our army is defeated!" along the way.
Their desertion quickly caused the morale of the still-fighting Genoa army to collapse, with only Carlo desperately holding on, allowing the Theodoro Army to slowly gain the upper hand. But by this time, both sides were within range of the Genoa navy's cannons. If the navy had been willing to do its duty, Theodoro's losses would certainly have been extremely heavy, and even defeat would not have been impossible.
However, the problem was that the two consuls fleeing to the sea were quickly met by Admiral Elvin of the navy, who had previously been closer to the consuls. To ensure the successful boarding of the 1,500-plus soldiers of the two consuls, he even ordered many ships to stop supporting the army fiercely fighting on the beach.
As a result, after losing most of the navy's support, the already demoralized Genoa army began to show widespread war-weariness: they didn't want to die like this either.
Under the spread of this idea, Theodoro soldiers were surprised to find that when their enemies' weapons or armor were hit, they would simply throw them away and surrender.
This absurd situation even shocked Manuel. "This, this isn't right. I still have a lot of hidden units I haven't used yet." After receiving the messenger's report, he and Patniko were dumbfounded, looking at each other in disbelief that they had gained the advantage in such a way.
"No, we haven't completely won yet," Manuel quickly calmed down. "The center of Genoa's army hasn't collapsed yet. According to front-line estimates, there should be between one thousand and two thousand men there."
"Then, that should be the position of the General of the Genoa army," Patniko proposed this conjecture.
"That makes sense, it should be…" Manuel suddenly remembered something, and his expression turned grim. "That's it! Someone, give me a matchlock, a crossbow will also do."
Patniko hastily stopped him, saying, "Your Highness, stop! Have you forgotten how you nearly died last time?"
"No, for such enemies with strong will to resist, we must use phenomena that cannot be explained by common sense to break their will," Manuel then added, "Don't worry, General, I am not someone who doesn't learn from his mistakes. I will do my best to avoid repeating the mistakes I've made." With that, he took a matchlock handed to him by a Filaka soldier and rushed to the front line.
More and more Genoa soldiers were fleeing and surrendering. Many fled towards the sea, only to be cut down by hussars who appeared from nowhere. Even so, they persistently fled towards the navy's position. And the navy was not reluctant to accept them. By the time the sky was faintly greyish-white, the Genoa navy's ships had already carried nearly 3,000 soldiers who had abandoned the fight and fled.
Just as Elvin was preparing to command the navy to leave, a sailor on board suddenly reported to him that several unidentified ships were approaching from a distance.
"Let me see, it should be reinforcements… right?" Elvin looked towards the stern and suddenly discovered something incredible.
"Admiral, that looks like the Lion of St. Mark flag," a sailor reported.
"Look again, it shouldn't be enemy ships, just a merchant fleet…" Elvin's yellowish-white goatee was covered in cold sweat.
"Admiral, the Venice fleet seems to have aimed its cannons at us."
"Ah? This… damn it!" No sooner had he spoken than the leading flagship of the Venice fleet fired a cannonball, blasting a large hole through the Genoa flagship where Elvin was. Elvin himself was blown away by this cannonball, his entire body directly launched into the Black Sea.
The unprepared Genoa fleet was immediately struck with wails by the long-planned Venice fleet, and the sinking of the flagship directly shattered their dwindling confidence, making them completely objects of slaughter.
And on land, Carlo still tried to lead his over 1,000 relatively steadfast subordinates back to Olstyn to hold out, but they were immediately blocked by a large contingent of troops. And the young General leading this contingent was none other than Manuel.
Facing this Genoa army that still retained its will to fight, Manuel did not rush to attack, but under the protection of his men, he spoke loudly from the front of the formation:
"I am Manuel Gavras. In the Battle of Kaffa several months ago, it was I who led the defenders to defeat you, and it was I who was pierced through the right chest by a hidden arrow in that battle, nearly dying.
"But by the grace of God, while I was unconscious from such severe wounds, I felt a majestic presence with a golden halo above His head come to save me. It was Michael, the chief of the angels under the Lord. He told me that I should not stop here. When I woke up, I had not only recovered my health, but my body was also completely intact.
"From then on, I understood that my presence here is God's will. And your actions are blasphemous. Even if you purchase so-called indulgences, you can only descend into the endless fires of hell!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than most of the Genoa soldiers, already on the verge of collapse, painfully stopped resisting. "No, I am devout to the Lord!" "I became a mercenary just to make a living; I don't want to abandon the true faith!" "Going to Satan's hell, no, not that!"
Seeing most of them about to surrender, Carlo cursed anxiously, "This is the Crown Prince of a heretical nation! If you believe his words, that's when you'll go to hell…" But no one listened to him. Most people were only concerned with praying, repenting, and surrendering.
Carlo Dominus Merlo finally broke down into laughter, spurred his horse, and charged towards Manuel with his spear. Manuel, in response, deftly retreated, shielding himself with his soldiers, and began to load gunpowder, while giving Carlo a cold sneer: "It seems you are the General of Genoa who almost killed me that day. Your horsemanship and tactics are truly excellent, what a pity—" Manuel raised his matchlock and fired a fatal lead bullet at him.
"General, times have changed."